Why Buying Followers can Damage Your Business

There is a common saying that goes, “there’s no such thing as a shortcut to success.” This adage holds true even in an age where technology demands more in less time. Having many followers, likes, and fans through social media looks good for a business. Many companies are desperate to build this perception to the public so some choose to purchase their followers, likes, and views to spike their social media numbers. Many people think spiking your metrics through fake followers is harmless; however, there various reasons why buying likes and followers can ultimately hurt your business and brand in the long run.

Fake fans does not lead to increased business

Buying followers and fans only provides a facade to your metrics and does not generate real interest or engagement with your social channels. Essentially, you are paying to look good for those who want to see your profile but your account will seem imbalance when others see the high fan count versus the low page interactions. After purchasing your follows, it is more than likely that you will get a large number of fake accounts to your new list of follows.

Consider social media profiles to be the equivalent of a business’ paperwork. You wouldn’t inflate the amount of money you made that month or the business’ customer conversion rate. You could lie about the amount of money you made that month, but without that money you can’t do anything to benefit the business. Similarly, you can lie about the amount of followers you’ve rightfully gained, but you wouldn’t be able to back up those followers with tangible business. Fake followers don’t lead to real money (Open Forum).

Increased monitoring may lead to wasted purchase:

Twitter advises users to “Avoid third party applications that promise to get you many followers, these usually break our terms of service and can get your account suspended.” Increased monitoring is also prevalent as many social sites now filter through inactive or suspicious accounts and eventually eliminate them after a few months. If you purchase your metrics, as a result, more than 70% of the accounts will be invalidated at some point. This means that your number of followers will decrease drastically which may raise suspicion and can negatively impact your image.

It can jeopardize your brand’s credibility and ethics:

In a world where new businesses constantly arise, nowadays, customers often judge businesses based on its reputation, culture, and ethics. The deception of high followers and likes is often seen as an immoral thing to do. “It’s like plagiarizing, but in a different form. Brands pay bloggers and that money partnership is purely based on the likes and following performances. It’s completely unethical,” says Janee, a small business owner.

You could be scamming your own business.

According to Open Forum, People who purchase likes, followers and Web traffic are essentially scamming themselves and their customers. It’s like studying for a test; you put in long hours so that you can get a good grade, and when you pass the test, you gain genuine knowledge about the material. If you cheat, you’ll get a good grade, but you’ll have no idea what you’re doing. People who buy fans take the easy way out, and as a result, may continually believe that there is an easy way out in other areas of the business. People who work hard for their fans naturally acquire motivation and a sincere work ethic that will drive them and their business further.

Then How Should I Grow my Social Media?

Based on these four reasons, it’s evident that when you take shortcuts, you get cut short. To help you grow your social media, stay tuned for our follow-up post on how to organically grow your fan base. Follow @RedOrum on Twitter or like us on Facebook to get our most recent updates!

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